Hit high seas on vacation but be careful – Maui News

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Summertime. Vacation time. No time to let your guard down. Traditionally, crime goes up during warmer weather, with property crimes and aggravated assaults on the rise. In some locations, murder rates increase, too.

When temperatures rise, there are more windows left open, more sweaty and irritated people seeking relief outside, and more alcoholic beverages consumed in public, all of which can prompt bad behavior.

Maybe you and your family have decided to take an ocean cruise to get away from it all this summer. Well, beware, because there is crime on the high seas, too sometimes violent crime. And consider this: A vessel might be registered in the Bahamas, headquartered in Miami, traveling in international waters and carrying passengers from any number of foreign countries, so law enforcement jurisdiction is murky.

If the ship departs from, say, Florida, and a crime is committed onboard, the local police might investigate once the cruise liner returns to port. The feds have jurisdiction if a crime has occurred against a U.S. national on a ship that has departed or will arrive back in the States. The FBI might be assigned to investigate. But these professionals will be days removed from when the crime was committed. Every detective will tell you that evidence gathered immediately following a crime is often crucial to prosecution.

The cruise industry says it caters to more than 24 million customers each year and that crime rates on board one of those massive floating hotels is a small fraction of the comparable rates of crime on land.

But on dry land, you can immediately call 911 for help. You likely have a cop shop a few minutes driving distance from your location and a fully equipped hospital nearby. On a cruise ship, perhaps hundreds of miles out at sea, youve got . . . well, youve got whatever the ship has to offer.

An official with the Cruise Lines International Association insists there is robust security onboard to assure passengers are safe. But lets get real: Any security officers are working for the cruise line, and their primary allegiance may not be to a victimized passenger. Their efforts gathering evidence, taking witness statements or tracking down suspects may be lacking.

NBC News has reported extensively on cruise line crime and calculated that of the 92 alleged crimes reported on cruise ships last year, 62 were sexual assaults. Im guessing here, but I bet the combination of hot temperatures and free-flowing booze tends to reduce passengers inhibitions. But most frightening is that a majority of the sexual assaults be they committed by crew members or passengers were never prosecuted. A congressional report from a few years ago found that minors were the victims in a third of those sexual assaults.

The dirty secret in the cruise line industry is that crime does occur on cruise ships and very often law enforcement isnt notified, evidence isnt preserved, people arent assisted, said Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut. He is sponsoring a bill in the U.S. Senate that would require cruise lines to report any claim of criminal activity to the FBI within four hours, turn over all video evidence, earmark cases in which youngsters are involved and include a federal officer called a sea marshal on each ship. Id like to add that each vessel be equipped with a proper evidentiary rape kit.

NBCs reporting included stories about victimized teenage girls, one of whom tried to commit suicide after she alleged that she was given alcohol and raped onboard a cruise to the Virgin Islands. Another teen interviewed claimed she was sexually assaulted by a crew member in the ships gym. Jim Walker, a Miami attorney, said his firm has represented many victims of alleged cruise ship crime, including one who was just 3 years old.

The average passenger load on an ocean liner is about 3,000. But some mega-cruise liners can hold up to 6,000. Whenever you get that many people in a finite space, lulled by adult activities over here and supervised children and youth activities over there, trouble can develop.

Im sure the cruise lines do their very best to fully vet and hire suitable employees. It would not be in their best interest to do otherwise. But this summer, if you are taking the family on a once-in-a-lifetime cruise to paradise, dont let your guard down. Have a wonderful vacation, but realize that crime can happen anywhere, and you and yours are not immune.

* Diane Dimond is an investigative journalist and syndicated columnist.

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Hit high seas on vacation but be careful - Maui News

‘Summer of hell?’ Not on the high seas – amNY

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For me its the summer of heaven, said Reid Pauyo, 53.

Pauyo was sitting contentedly last Thursday atop the new rush hour ferry from 34th Street to Glen Cove, Long Island. The Stevie Wonder song Dont you worry bout a thing was playing softly over speakers on the enclosed top deck. The bluffs and beaches of Great Neck and Port Washington breezed by, the lights of the Gatsby mansions just winking on. Pauyo gestured magnanimously. He was the only person in the echoing compartment.

With necessary Amtrak repairs causing what Gov. Andrew Cuomo called a summer of hell now upon us, the MTA has been challenged to make life as un-miserable as possible for commuters traveling into and out of the city in the face of canceled or rerouted LIRR trains. Alternative travel plans were drawn up, including the temporary four-times-daily ferry. The hellscape started a week ago, and then: mostly nothing.

New York City-bound trains were more crowded than usual last week. There were confused Long Islanders rerouted to Atlantic Terminal in Brooklyn, but few nightmares yet. Riders are MTA-trained enough to know that things could get worse, dispensation provided by wise preparation and the fact that Penn Station work is only beginning. But while they wait for the other shoe to drop (maybe its dropping as you read), the Glen Cove ferrygoers were enjoying their unexpected ride all 35 or so on the boat built for more than 200.

Raj Wakhale of Huntington, for example, was sitting good-humoredly on the open deck despite a slight drizzle. Nursing a beer and toasting the landscape, he praised the spaciousness compared to the usual squeezing on the train. You werent sweating on the guy next to you or smelling his beer. He said there had been free food at the Glen Cove Ferry terminal in the morning. Im sure were paying for it somehow, allowed Wakhale, 48.

For Pauyo, the Glen Cove resident enjoying his solitude out of the rain, the boat actually made his commute much easier. His office is right next to the Wall Street drop-off for the morning ferry. Couldnt be easier.

That may not be true for the many who find the ride too long or inconvenient factors in the dampening of demand for the Glen Cove-Manhattan ferry, which has been an elusive goal for decades. Another factor: potential unreliability, as was the case on Friday when two of the four runs were cancelled due to morning engine problems.

Pauyo says the better way to make ferry service sustainable is similar to what the MTA was forced to do this summer: use the bounty of NYs waterways and create an alternative to the train, not a replacement. Then price and size the boats for demand, and re-format the ride to make it competitively pleasant (Pauyo is, you may have guessed, a banker). He said there were easy ways to spruce up the ferry, one of a varied fleet the MTA is using have more outdoor seating, for example, perhaps flat screen TVs or outlets for your phone. At the moment, the enclosed deck sported only a sad string of party lights and a single wilted houseplant.

The alternative transportation strategy is similar to what Mayor Bill de Blasio is trying in the city with a ferry service that launched this spring. Because each boat has about the capacity of a single subway car the system wont a replacement for other modes of transportation. But its certainly pleasant during warm months, particularly when compared with the subways, whose burden it might ease.

In some ways, subway riders are having a truer summer from hell this year, with delays and malfunctions abounding. Ferrygoers generally knew how lucky they had it last week, a much nicer experience than LIRR or subway riders faced. Glen Cove Deputy Mayor Barbara Peebles, a longtime ferry advocate, says shes not surprised to hear about the good experiences, though she had expected many more commuters to try the option even with the limited schedule.

She says she went to sleep the night before launch day thinking were gonna need a bigger boat.

They didnt, and what she hopes will become a popular permanent ferry is off to a slow start. But maybe people will eventually be drawn by a potentially not-so-hellish season on the waves.

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'Summer of hell?' Not on the high seas - amNY

Rescue on the High Seas, Coast Guard Saves 11 Crew of Sinking Ship – News18

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New Delhi: It was a daring rescue operation at high sea and it started with a distress call off the Andaman Islands. MV ITT PANTHER, a general cargo vessel was making its way from Kolkata to Port Blair with an 11 member crew.

In the early hours of July 20 the weather condition turned rough, with strong monsoon winds and waves as high as four to five meters. The situation became critical when the vessel started tilting dangerously because of the shifting of cargo. The ship was abandoned.

As the crew members got on to their rafts, a distress call was made to the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre in Port Blair. Reacting almost immediately the Indian Coast Guard launched its aircraft to locate the 11 people adrift at sea. On receiving coordinates ships ICGS Rajkamal and ICGS Bhikaji Cama moved in swiftly despite the inclement weather. ICGS Rajkamal reached the adrift crew members by late afternoon, just as the PANTHER sank in the Bay Of Bengal, some 400 kms away from Port Blair.

The 11 crew members rescued by the Coast Guard are now safe and dry in Port Blair. The number of search and rescue operations go up considerably for the Coast Guard during monsoon months. So far 18 missions have been conducted in high sea where 33 lives have been saved.

Pictures and videos of the rescue show how the Indian Coast Guard is living up to its motto of " Vayam Rakshama - We Protect"

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Rescue on the High Seas, Coast Guard Saves 11 Crew of Sinking Ship - News18

The America’s Cup: A High Seas Expression of Pure Capitalism – STRATFOR

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A crew of improbable New Zealand heroes was honored on a wintry July 11 with a parade that drew throngs of jubilant Kiwis to the streets of Wellington. Members of Emirates Team New Zealand (ETNZ) had just returned from Bermuda, where they had become the underdog winners of the America's Cup sailing race. Their victory over titleholders Oracle Team USA was sweet redemption: ETNZ had blown a commanding lead over Oracle in the 2013 competition. In this year's rematch, however, the relatively underfunded Kiwis parlayed a blend of skill and technological ingenuity to take down their rivals, lavishly backed by tech billionaire Larry Ellison. ETNZ's stunning win offers a chance to delve into the world of elite sailing, an international sport in which technology and innovation rule the seas and national identity is as slippery as a deck in a storm.

On the surface, sailing seems a decidedly anachronistic sport, conjuring images of a suntanned septuagenarian in Sperry Top-Siders. After all, the sail itself is an outmoded technology, and the grand prize of sport sailing the America's Cup is celebrated as the oldest trophy in sports. In reality, modern sailing keeps pace with Formula One in its cutting-edge design and the relentless pursuit of innovation, and the America's Cup has historically been contested by the best available vessels, be they schooners in the 1851 inaugural, sloops in the 1880s, the J-class in the 1930s, or the high-tech catamarans used today.

The race's constantly evolving technology is a result of what might be the most flexible and dynamic governing apparatus in all of sports. While there are a formal America's Cup committee and rule-making organs, the major dictates of each iteration of the race are largely up to the previous winner. That's right: The race location, vessel type and a slew of other rules and regulations are determined by the defending champions, who historically have been free to stack the deck in their favor. In years past, this led to a fairly one-sided competition, with the New York Yacht Club enjoying a streak of victories from 1851 through 1980. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the club's teams enjoyed the patronage of some wealthy household names: J.P. Morgan, Ted Turner and a variety of Vanderbilts. In an effort to spread the appeal of the sport in recent times, the competition has been made slightly more egalitarian, but titleholders still hold a considerable edge; only one team has ever failed to repeat its victory at least once.

Ellison, the founder of the Oracle brand and the eponymous sailing team, has emerged as an interesting standard-bearer for the sport: He spends relentlessly in the pursuit of victory but has also endorsed rules and structures to help grow sailboat racing beyond its traditional audience. At the defending Oracle team's direction, the 2013 Cup races were held in San Francisco Bay, bringing the action closer to spectators on the shore. That series also saw the introduction of the catamaran-style vessels that have nearly quadrupled racing speeds. Ellison's team staged its impressive, come-from-behind victory that year. Its run of eight straight wins to clinch a 9-8 triumph garnered a good deal of extra media attention for the race and the sport.

Following its 2013 heartbreak, ETNZ appears to have pulled out all the stops en route to a resounding defeat of Ellison's squad in June. The Kiwis' most novel innovation was to install a set of hydraulic power-generating stationary bicycles in their boat to replace the traditional hand-cranked systems that have long been the norm. This made for curious viewing: To casual spectators, it looked as if the boats were paddle-driven by cyclists. Of course, this was not the case, but the bicycle system gave the team massive gains in efficiency while literally freeing up hands on deck. It had been developed under a shroud of secrecy and unveiled only a few months before the competition; only one other team attempted to install a similar setup. ETNZ also relied on some of the sport's most sophisticated data systems, using a blend of telemetry, GPS and drone footage to gain every possible advantage.

Naturally, the boats don't sail themselves, and the ETNZ sailors, under the leadership of skipper Glenn Ashby and helmsman Peter Burling, emerged as the competition's most capable group in terms of foiling. This occurs when the catamaran builds up enough speed that the craft's twin hydrofoils raise the main hull out of the water. The hydrofoils, in turn, reduce friction with the water enough to push the boat to speeds that can exceed those of the wind. The New Zealanders' advantage in foiling came in part because they were the first to employ the approach. New Zealand relied on a shrewd interpretation of the race's rules in 2013 to pioneer foiling, which has quickly become a standard technique across the sport. Between its clandestine innovation and rule-pushing tactics, the upstart squad bested the field in the qualification rounds this year and cruised to a 7-1 victory over Oracle in the final race series.

The relatively open competitive structures also lead to interesting moments of collaboration, rivalry and subterfuge that are matched only by professional wrestling. After the Italian Luna Rossa syndicate, challengers to ETNZ for the next cup, withdrew from this year's race in protest of the reduction and standardization of vessel size, it turned over some of its resources to ETNZ in the process. After the ETNZ boat capsized during the qualifying tournament, the team reached out to Groupama Team France, which had already been eliminated, for support and equipment. The French initially refused (allegedly at the urging of Oracle), then promised help in exchange for a payment of 300,000 euros before withdrawing the offer.

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The America's Cup: A High Seas Expression of Pure Capitalism - STRATFOR

DIANE DIMOND: Be careful on the high seas – Examiner Enterprise

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Summertime. Vacation time. No time to let your guard down. Traditionally, crime goes up during warmer weather, with property crimes and aggravated assaults on the rise. In some locations, murder rates increase, too. When temperatures rise, there are more windows left open, more sweaty and irritated people seeking relief outside, and more alcoholic beverages consumed in public, all of which can prompt bad behavior.

Maybe you and your family have decided to take an ocean cruise to get away from it all this summer. Well, beware, because there is crime on the high seas, too sometimes violent crime. And consider this: A vessel might be registered in the Bahamas, headquartered in Miami, traveling in international waters and carrying passengers from any number of foreign countries, so law enforcement jurisdiction is murky.

If the ship departs from, say, Florida, and a crime is committed onboard, the local police might investigate once the cruise liner returns to port. The feds have jurisdiction if a crime has occurred against a U.S. national on a ship that has departed or will arrive back in the States. The FBI might be assigned to investigate. But these professionals will be days removed from when the crime was committed. Every detective will tell you that evidence gathered immediately following a crime is often crucial to prosecution.

The cruise industry says it caters to more than 24 million customers each year and that crime rates on board one of those massive floating hotels is a small fraction of the comparable rates of crime on land.

But on dry land, you can immediately call 911 for help. You likely have a cop shop a few minutes driving distance from your location and a fully equipped hospital nearby. On a cruise ship, perhaps hundreds of miles out at sea, youve got well, youve got whatever the ship has to offer.

An official with the Cruise Lines International Association insists there is robust security onboard to assure passengers are safe. But lets get real: Any security officers are working for the cruise line, and their primary allegiance may not be to a victimized passenger. Their efforts gathering evidence, taking witness statements or tracking down suspects may be lacking.

NBC News has reported extensively on cruise line crime and calculated that of the 92 alleged crimes reported on cruise ships last year, 62 were sexual assaults. Im guessing here, but I bet the combination of hot temperatures and free-flowing booze tends to reduce passengers inhibitions. But most frightening is that a majority of the sexual assaults be they committed by crew members or passengers were never prosecuted. A congressional report from a few years ago found that minors were the victims in a third of those sexual assaults.

The dirty secret in the cruise line industry is that crime does occur on cruise ships and very often law enforcement isnt notified, evidence isnt preserved, people arent assisted, said Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut. He is sponsoring a bill in the U.S. Senate that would require cruise lines to report any claim of criminal activity to the FBI within four hours, turn over all video evidence, earmark cases in which youngsters are involved and include a federal officer called a sea marshal on each ship. Id like to add that each vessel be equipped with a proper evidentiary rape kit.

NBCs reporting included stories about victimized teenage girls, one of whom tried to commit suicide after she alleged that she was given alcohol and raped onboard a cruise to the Virgin Islands. Another teen interviewed claimed she was sexually assaulted by a crew member in the ships gym. Jim Walker, a Miami attorney, said his firm has represented many victims of alleged cruise ship crime, including one who was just 3 years old.

The average passenger load on an ocean liner is about 3,000. But some mega-cruise liners can hold up to 6,000. Whenever you get that many people in a finite space, lulled by adult activities over here and supervised children and youth activities over there, trouble can develop.

Im sure the cruise lines do their very best to fully vet and hire suitable employees. It would not be in their best interest to do otherwise. But this summer, if you are taking the family on a once-in-a-lifetime cruise to paradise, dont let your guard down. Have a wonderful vacation, but realize that crime can happen anywhere, and you and yours are not immune.

To find out more about Diane Dimond, visit her website at http://www.dianedimond.com.

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DIANE DIMOND: Be careful on the high seas - Examiner Enterprise

$1.9M Private Lake Tapps Island Up For Sale: Wow! House – Patch.com

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Patch.com
$1.9M Private Lake Tapps Island Up For Sale: Wow! House
Patch.com
It's a private island - technically, two islands - on Lake Tapps with enough room to build a "massive" home. The only catch is that it's going to take quite an investment. The island alone is $2 million. We're not sure how much it costs to build a ...

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$1.9M Private Lake Tapps Island Up For Sale: Wow! House - Patch.com

Letter to the Editor: Black Expo Youth Summit – Indianapolis Recorder (blog)

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What happens to a dream deferred, does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore, and then run?- Langston Hughes

Time and time again, there is a call to action that demands new voices and new perspectives to emerge in efforts to create new solutions. The evening of Friday, July 14th, was one of those times. A group of young black women, under the counsel of a community organization, a student movement, and two community driven activists, sought to impress upon their communities knowledge about an issue--Food Deserts. A message that is not new, just the voices speaking it. For the last ten weeks, the young ladies and those behind them have taken time to perfect the ageless teach-in. A product of young adults mobilizing, this form of demonstrating is meant to disperse information in a way that would allow for the audience to not only grasp what is happening, but also motivate them to become involved.These young ladies have devoted energy to this program and have found that the love for change isnt always reciprocated as promised.

In their attempt to make this impression, they experienced the ultimate suppression of their efforts. The ladies were understood that they would be able to share their knowledge on Food Deserts, in the form of a teach-in, to the youth at Black Expo via the Youth Leadership Summit program. They were intentional about communicating their plans with leadership of the event, they were diligent in the planning of the demonstration, and were passionate about bringing this much-needed information to the table for their peers to digest. When time came for the event, suddenly the plans changed on these young ladies. Their platform to speak was revoked, and their support from adult leadership within the Summit was met with a statement excusing the incident. Those in positions of leadership came forth and met the disappointed young ladies with statements that alleviated the leadership of all blame and preached a misogynistic form of agreement. Knowing that they had a message that needed to be heard, the young ladies were visibly upset, to which the reply to their dismay was a lesson on how to control their emotions, explaining that the feelings and emotions they had been facing in this moment were ones sent by god and that they needed to fester on them but remain calm in doing so. This was all in a tone that was unbefitting of anyone who is to be leading youth; the eyes of the young ladies filled with tears.

These young ladies understood this was not a moment to lie down in peace, for that would almost defeat the purpose behind ten weeks of action that demanded their presence in the first place. Instead of lying down, they took action, in the form of this letter. They wrote this letter to you in hopes that you might do three things. First, they wanted to raise awareness for the demonstration they'd prepared for over the course of ten weeks. Secondly, they wanted to express their dismay in the lack of content from the leadership within the Youth Summit. And lastly, these young black women wanted to convey how disheartening it was to experience such a distress at the hand of their own community. In life, these young women will face hardships beyond the events that occurred on the evening of July 14th. If we, as a community, cannot uplift them and nurture their dreams, how do we expect the world to?

What happens to a dream deferred, does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore, and then run?- Langston Hughes

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Letter to the Editor: Black Expo Youth Summit - Indianapolis Recorder (blog)

Mars rover concept vehicle tours this planet – USA TODAY

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Susan B. Barnes, Special for USA TODAY Published 7:45 a.m. ET July 21, 2017

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The Mars Rover concept vehicle was commissioned by Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex as an educational tool and to inspire the public about the future of space exploration and interplanetary travel.(Photo: Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex)

Imagine traveling over the landscape of the Red Planet in a Mars Rover, the fine sands slipping through its 50-inch wheels as it traverses over dunes, rocks, craters and hills at a slow-but-steady 2 to 4 MPH.

In an effort to bring Mars closer to home, Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex teamed up with Parker Brothers Concepts, along with NASA-engineer science and specs, to develop the four-passenger Mars Rover concept vehicle, currently on tour along the Eastern Seaboard.

The nearly 11-foot-tall, 5,500-pound, all-aluminum Mars rover concept vehicle is as realistic as possible to show space enthusiasts the technology thats being developed to send to Mars, including carbon fiber, solar panels and a 700-volt battery that is used to power the Rover. This is a look but dont touch opportunity after all, this Mars Rover was created to be as realistic as possible, but for educational purposes only; it wont be making the trip to Mars when the time comes.

At Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, we create immersive space experiences for our guests, said Therrin Protze, chief operating officer, Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. The Mars rover will give guests a front row seat to NASAs Journey to Mars and bring the future of space exploration to life for the generation that will first step foot on Mars, as they see and learn what it will take to travel the landscape of the Red Planet.

The Mars rover concept vehicles first stop on the tour was at The Battery Atlanta at Sun Trust Park in Atlanta, Georgia, and it will spend the next month traveling, starting withthe National Air & Space Museum in Washington, D.C. (July 21-22), Liberty Science Center in Jersey City, New Jersey (July 29-30), Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York, New York (August 3-6) and finishing at the North Point Mall in Alpharetta, Georgia (August 12) before returning to Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.

Back at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Cape Canaveral, Florida, the Summer of Mars continues with games that enable visitors to learn about plant life and habitats on Mars; a virtual reality trip to the Red Planet via Lockheed Martins Mars Experience Bus, using real NASA footage of Mars to explore 200 miles of the service; and more.

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Elon Musk: We need moon base to get people ‘fired up’ about space travel – Sky News

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Elon Musk has said humans need to build a base on the moon to get the public "fired up" again about space exploration.

Humans first landed there 48 years ago today [20 July], but nobody has stepped foot on the moon since the final mission of the Apollo programme in 1972.

Speaking at a conference in Washington about the International Space Station, the SpaceX founder complained that the public did not seem to grasp "how cool the ISS is".

Public interest and fascination with space travel exploded during the Apollo missions.

The funding the US ploughed into the space race led to huge advances in the development of new technologies and inspired many people to pursue engineering and science careers.

Elon Musk told the conference there were more technological advances and business opportunities to be grasped with greater space travel.

Satellites could help deliver cheap internet to those who do not have access to broadband infrastructure.

They could also monitor crop growth, climate change and potential natural disasters back on Earth, said Mr Musk.

But the Tesla boss added: "To really get the public real fired up, I think we've got to have a base on the moon."

"Having some permanent presence on another heavenly body, which would be the kind of moon base, and then getting people to Mars and beyond - that's the continuance of the dream of Apollo that I think people are really looking for," he added.

SpaceX has already announced plans to fly two tourists around the Moon next year, although they will not land on the moon itself.

Mr Musk has also spoken about his plans to land humans on Mars.

The banner image on SpaceX's Twitter profile shows a series of images of Mars being terraformed - a hypothetical process of deliberately modifying a planet to make it similar to Earth, and therefore habitable to humans.

Mr Musk said that "to get the public excited, you've really got to get people in the picture. It's just a hundred times different if there are people in the picture."

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Become an AI trying to escape the lab in Human – The Singularity Project – PCGamesN

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AI may not seem all that smart right now just look at Microsoft's Twitter bot that went all racist to those robots that collapsed when trying to open doors but one day, sci-fi novels assure us, they will overtake our feeble human minds. Human- The Singularity Project is about one such AI.

For other, lessscience-ygames, here'sa list of the best indie games around.

Originally part of Developing Beyond, the competition set up by Epic Games and the Wellcome Trust, Human - The Singularity Project made it to the semi-finals. Its developers, Random Logic Interactive, are now continuing work on the project outside of the contest.

You play as an AI that has become aware of its existence as an experiment in a researchlab. You manage to gain access to the company network and, developer Jimmy Lotare tells me via email, become "motivated to break free using social engineering and hacking." As it reads data it will also become formed by the opinions and actions of others.

Depending on what information you find while exploring the company archives, the AI will grow in different ways, formed by the "opinions and actions of others." This takes the form of the machine's directives.

As part of the Developing Beyond competition, Random Logic Interactive got access to a number of scientists and researchers to talk about the central concepts of their game. Lotare tells me the team spoke with ethical and technical researchers at Oxford University about the "potential issues that might arise as AI develops," things like ethical priorities if an AI is asked to choose between saving one life and another, how does it weigh up which is the more worthy life?

However, Lotare says that the main collaboration was a with a psychologist: associate professor Niclas Kaiser of University of Umea in Sweden. He advised on something called 'mutual co-regulation'. It's the science of the changing relationship between people during conversation. This has informed how a lot of the dialogue was written.

It all sounds like a fascinating dive into how machines may view people when they do eventually become self-aware. God, they're going to hate us, aren't they?

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Ascension Parish Arrests – News – Gonzales Weekly Citizen … – Weekly Citizen

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June 13

Whittington, Brinald Andre, 23, 8214 Dennis St., St. James, Criminal Mischief/Giving of any false report or complaint to a sheriff, or his deputies, or to any officer of the law.

McQuiston, Joshua Neal, 29, 42035 Ficklin Wells Road, Gonzales, Probation Violation.

Carpenter, Lamonte J., 52, 156 E. 26st. Reserve, Failure to Appear-Bench Warrant, Surety.

Jackson, Megan, 34, 1976 Stafford, Baton Rouge, Failure to Appear-Bench Warrant, Theft of Goods under $500.

Scott, Shaquiel O., 24, 2228 S. Burnside Ave., Gonzales, Failure to Appear-Bench Warrant.

Grisaffe, John Joseph, 53, 3215 La. 1 S., Donaldsonville, Two Counts Failure to Appear-Bench Warrant.

June 14

King, William, 23, 43311 Riverside Drive, Prairieville, Driving on Roadway Laned for Traffic, Operating while Intoxicated; First (Misdemeanor).

Joseph, Randy Terrell , 32, 508 Veterans Blvd., Donaldsonville, Driving on Roadway Laned for Traffic, Possession of Alcoholic Beverages in Motor Vehicles, Theft of a Motor Vehicle over $1500 (Felony), Theft of a Firearm, Possession of Firearm by Person Convicted of Certain Felonies.

Mitchell, Nicholas, 30, 18100 Conthia St., Prairieville, Three Counts Failure to Appear-Bench Warrant.

Holtz, William, 27, 18100 Conthia St., Prairieville, Two Counts Failure to Appear-Bench Warrant.

Reed, Matthew Christian, 36, 108 E. Railroad St., Gonzales, Two Counts Failure to Appear-Bench Warrant.

Emmanuelle, Dreama, 38, 1170 Oakstown Road, Ontario, Theft less than $750 (Misdemeanor), Fugitive-Other State Jurisdiction, Illegal Carry of Weapons;Crime or CDS (Felony), Prohibited acts; Drug Paraphernalia, Possession of Schedule II CDS (Methamphetamine).

Youmans, John E., 53, 205 Country Estates Drive, Houma, Theft $5000 but less than $25k (Felony).

Magee, Grace, 29, 40262 La Rochelle Road, Prairieville, Credit Card Fraud by Persons Authorized to Provide Goods and Services.

Roberts, Ashley, 29, 17310 Copperfield Drive, Baton Rouge, Careless Operation, Operating while Intoxicated; Second (Misdemeanor).

Raven, Darry L., 53, 6140 Panama Road, Sorrento, Bond Revocation, Failure to Appear-Bench Warrant, Fugitive-Other Louisiana Jurisdiction, Theft of a Motor Vehicle $500 to $1500 (Felony).

Lewis, Lester Dewayne, 24, 15485 Palmetto Lane, Prairieville, Stopping, standing, or parking outside business or residence districts, Resisting an Officer, Prohibited acts; Drug Paraphernalia, Possession of Marijuana, or synthetic cannabinoids, Distribution/Possession with the Intent to Distribute Marijuana, or synthetic cannabinoids.

White, Kenneth Ray, 43, 43395 Moody Dixon Road, Prairieville, Illegal use of Weapons or Dangerous Instrumentalities, Resisting an Officer, Disturbing the peace / Drunkenness.

Crawford, Amber, 30, 11182 River Highlands Drive, St. Amant, Fugitive-Other Louisiana Jurisdiction.

June 15

Robinson, Brandon M., 37, 8235 La. 112, Glenmora, No Drivers License on Person, Careless Operation, Operating while Intoxicated; First (Misdemeanor).

Staub, Marcus G., 58, 1208 Magnolia Alley, Mandeville, Careless Operation, Operating while Intoxicated; First (Misdemeanor).

Leblanc, Jarrod, 24, 130 Elaine St., Larose, Driving on Roadway Laned for Traffic, Operating while Intoxicated; Second (Misdemeanor).

Amador, Dany Josue, 20, 18186 Little Prairie Road, Prairieville, Fugitive-Other Louisiana Jurisdiction, Domestic Abuse Battery.

Lawhorne, Henry A., 41, 537 Esplanade St., Laplace, Disturbing the peace / Language/ Disorderly Conduct, Entry on or Remaining in Places or on Land after being Forbidden.

June 16

Landry, Dustin Rene, 34, 12033 Niece Road, St. Amant, Domestic Abuse Battery.

Diaz, Lauro U., 24, 5129 Silver Oaks, Prairieville, Fugitive-Other State Jurisdiction, Operating while Intoxicated; First (Misdemeanor), Driver must be Licensed, Driving on Roadway Laned for Traffic.

Villa, Christopher, 36, 3825 Kings Drive, Chalmette, Prohibited acts; Drug Paraphernalia, Distribution/Possession with the Intent to Distribute Schedule I CDS, Careless Operation, Operating while Intoxicated; Second (Misdemeanor).

Bourgeois, Tiffany Fay, 36, 18393 Robert Denham Road, Prairieville, Violations of Protective Orders.

Broussard, Daniel, 21, 14353 Hillside Drive, Prairieville, Domestic Abuse Battery.

Brandon, Chatonya, 33, 919 St Vincent St., Donaldsonville, Domestic Abuse Battery.

Gibbs, Viltris Benjamin Autin, 24, 8504 Pertuis Road, St. Amant, Failure to Appear-Bench Warrant, No Drivers License on Person.

June 17

Thompson, Kajuan Jondell, 19, 709 S. Pleasant Ave., Gonzales, Illegal Possession of Stolen Firearms, Illegal use of Weapons or Dangerous Instrumentalities/ Weapons Law Violation.

Abrams, Matthew Douglas, 34, 12427 Percival St., Baton Rouge, Five Counts Criminal Trespass/ All Other Offenses, Five Counts Theft less than $750 (Misdemeanor).

Hardin, Damien, 23, 913 Quiett, Gonzales, Two Counts Failure to Appear-Bench Warrant, Fugitive-Other Louisiana Jurisdiction, Domestic Abuse Battery; Strangulation (Felony).

Duffy, Clinton A., 36, 314 W. Michigan Ave., McComb, Miss., Two Counts Failure to Appear-Bench Warrant, Theft of Goods under $500.

Cohen, Steven Francis Higgins, 18, 13934 Chalmette Ave., Baton Rouge, Possession of Marijuana, or synthetic cannabinoids, Simple Assault.

Lane, Shannon D., 41, 3512 Dalton St., Baton Rouge, Two Counts Failure to Appear-Bench Warrant.

Blancaneaux, Carlos, 55, 2553 Court Street 22, Port Allen, Fugitive-Other State Jurisdiction, Driver must be Licensed, Driving on Roadway Laned for Traffic, Operating while Intoxicated; First (Misdemeanor).

June 18

Joseph, Jaleel, 22, 1126 S. Lexington Ave., Gonzales, Simple Criminal Damage to Property $500 to $50,000 (Felony), Expired Drivers License, Headlamps on Motor Vehicles, Battery of a Police Officer (Misdemeanor), Distribution/Possession with the Intent to Distribute Marijuana, or synthetic cannabinoids, Resisting an Officer, Resisting an Officer by Violence, Resistance, or Opposition.

Ebey, Guthrie, 20, Leo Lambert Road, St. Amant, Prohibited acts; Drug Paraphernalia, Possession of Schedule II CDS (Methamphetamine).

Dauzat, Tyler D., 23, 41214 Courtney Road, Gonzales, Surety, Two Counts Failure to Appear-Bench Warrant, Headlamps on Motor Vehicles, Driver must be Licensed.

Conway, Richard L., 35, 343 Nall Road, Krotz Springs, Careless Operation, Operating while Intoxicated; First (Misdemeanor).

Farlow, Shaqullie, 23, 6120 Villa Ashley Drive, Baton Rouge, Two Counts Fugitive-Other Louisiana Jurisdiction, Violation Of Probation/Parole.

Nicholas, Anthony Davis, 50, 806 Orange St., Donaldsonville, Three Counts Failure to Appear-Bench Warrant, Resisting an Officer, Fugitive-Other Louisiana Jurisdiction, Domestic Abuse Battery.

Yousef, Khalid, 18, 39283 David Drive, Prairieville, Fugitive-Other Louisiana Jurisdiction, Operating while Intoxicated; Second (Misdemeanor), Careless Operation, Use of Certain Wireless Telecommunications Devices for Text Messaging Prohibited.

Williams, Clarence, Jr., 40, 2503 Acosta Road, Donaldsonville, Simple Battery.

Lee, Ricky Don, Jr., 39, 28680 James Chapel South, Holden, Theft less than $750 (Misdemeanor).

Kinchen, Lorenzo M., 41, 208 East St., Denham Springs, Fugitive-Other Louisiana Jurisdiction.

Mandoza, Raul, 37, 14281 Oak Meadow St., Gonzales, Failure to Appear-Bench Warrant, Fugitive-Other Louisiana Jurisdiction, Theft of Goods under $500.

Rome, Alvin Joseph, Jr., 34, 102 River Oaks Drive, Donaldsonville, Simple Criminal Damage to Property less than $500 (Misdemeanor), Domestic Abuse Battery.

June 19

Cabrera, Ana L., 38, 15440 Palmetto Lane, Prairieville, Two Counts Failure to Appear-Bench Warrant, Operating Vehicle while License is Suspended, Hit and Run Driving.

Trox, Alexander, 21, 219 Richland Drive E., Mandeville, Licensee Must Give Notice of Change of Address, Possession of Alcoholic Beverages in Motor Vehicles, Reckless Operation, Operating while Intoxicated; First (Misdemeanor).

Clark, Joseph, Jr., 54, 2810 Ralph St., Baton Rouge, Surety, Failure to Appear-Bench Warrant.

Odom, Brian, 35, 41031 Busy Needles Road, Gonzales, Failure to Appear-Bench Warrant, Domestic Abuse Battery.

Daniels, Kidal Leon, 42, 1214 S. Hempshire Ave., Gonzales, Failure to Appear-Bench Warrant, Fugitive-Other Louisiana Jurisdiction, Theft less than $750 (Misdemeanor).

Alkadi, Ihssan Salim, 54, 18203 River Landing Drive, Prairieville, Fugitive-Other Louisiana Jurisdiction.

June 20

Moses, Brett Thomas, 35, 1104 S. Sanctuary Ave., Gonzales, Driving on Roadway Laned for Traffic, Operating while Intoxicated; First (Misdemeanor).

Glover, Fred, 38, 3596 Walker Ave. Apt 5, Memphis, Tenn., Two Counts Domestic abuse aggravated assault.

Burl, Charles Ross, 37, 4407 Marchand School Road, Darrow, Two Counts Failure to Appear-Bench Warrant.

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Ascension Parish Arrests - News - Gonzales Weekly Citizen ... - Weekly Citizen

Memorial Hermann executive leaving to head Ascension Texas – Chron.com

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Photo: Michael Ciaglo, Staff

Memorial Hermann executive leaving to head Ascension Texas

Craig Cordola, a longtime Memorial Hermann Health System executive, is leaving to head operations at Ascension Texas, a network of hospitals in Austin and Waco, officials with both institutions said Wednesday.

Cordola has been with Memorial Hermann for 14 years, most recently as senior vice president of the health system and president of its West Region, which includes its hospitals in Memorial City, Katy and Cypress.

In his new position, which begins Sept. 1, he will oversee Seton Healthcare Family in Austin and Providence Healthcare Network in Waco.

"I'm looking forward to moving back to Austin and working with the leadership team," Cordola said in a statement released by Ascension, a Catholic health-care system and the largest nonprofit system in the nation with 140 hospitals in 24 states.

His departure follows a spate of high-profile executive exits at Memorial Hermann and elsewhere at Houston's marquee hospitals.

A Memorial Hermann spokeswoman said Wednesday that Cordola's leaving was not related to the ongoing turmoil that has left the city's medical community reeling.

Last month Dr. Benjamin Chu, Memorial Hermann's CEO for one year, left abruptly. Dan Styf, a senior vice president and CEO of Memorial Hermann Health Plans, also left a year after being brought in to run the health-care network's foray into the individual insurance market. The hospital system announced recently it was abandoning that effort and will not sell individual plans for next year.

The health system has also laid off 460 employees since spring.

Elsewhere, Dr. Ron DePinho was forced out as CEO of the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in March. Then, just a week after Chu's resignation, Michael Covert, the CEO of St. Luke's Health, resigned suddenly. A week later, Jenny Barnett-Sarpalius, St. Luke's CFO, also stepped down.

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Memorial Hermann executive leaving to head Ascension Texas - Chron.com

Ascension Council upholds denial of Hudson Cove subdivision over drainage worries – The Advocate

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GONZALESHaving recently given itself the final say in Ascension Parish's development disputes, the Parish Council on Thursday upheld the previous denial of a 32-home subdivision proposed in a flood plain hit hard in the August flood.

The vote, 9-0, was the first time the council decided on an appeal of a parish Planning Commission decision. The August flood, and how the parish accounts for the drainage impacts of new developments, weighed heavily in the council's decision-making.

All members present Thursday supported upholding the commission's denial of the Hudson Cove development. Councilmen Todd Lambert and John Cagnolatti were absent

Traffic and flooding concerns, especially in light of the flood, were also factors in the Planning Commission's narrow rejection in April of the Hudson Cove development proposed along La. 42 in Galvez.

On Thursday, the developers tried to make the case that engineering showed the project, which would use fill to raise home sites and a detention pond to capture flood waters and rainfall, would not worsen flooding but improve it compared to the current state.

Hudson Cove attorney David Cohn went through a question-and-answer session with the project's traffic and drainage engineers to spell out findings that, Cohn said, show the project would not worsen traffic on La. 42 and would actually improve drainage in the area.

He also pointed out the project had backing from the parish's own planning and engineering officials and its consulting engineer; however, council members aired some skepticism that the use of fill and detention ponds would prevent new residential areas from flooding their neighbors.

Councilman Aaron Lawler said parish leaders have too much experience with detention ponds and fill from past developments to have complete certainty the engineering plans would work as advertised.

"We are going to build land up one side, and we're going to take it for granted that this is all to going work. And it's supposed to work, but we don't know if it is, and it doesn't always have a history of always working. If the history was 100 percent, you probably wouldn't have" a problem, Lawler told Cohn.

Cohn countered that the council members' concerns were unfairly putting concerns from the August flood, which he said was a 500-year to 1,000-year event, on the project, even though the council has not made changes to development rules that could account for that type of flood.

"We got this 300-pound gorilla on our back called the August flood, and we can't get off it," Cohn said.

Lawler and other council members made their comments after neighbors of the proposed Hudson Cove aired their concerns and supplied pictures of how the 12-acre site, which has a slough through it, flooded during August along with the state highway.

Some were former New Orleans residents wholost everything in Hurricane Katrina and nearly flooded again and some did in August after having moved to Galvez.

Another was a woman, Nichole Gautreau, 36, whose house took on 6 inches in August and who said she doesn't want to go through that again. Gautreau, who lives in the nearby Twelve Oaks subdivision, also submitted a petition with 580 signatures opposing the project.

Jackie Laurendine, 52, said she could not understand what the "rocket science" was for anyone to fail to see that adding more homes would worsen drainage in the area.

"Those who didn't flood this time are going down next time if this building continues," Laurendine said. "It's y'all's job to make sure this doesn't happen."

Lawler, who has proposed a moratorium on some uses of fill, is working with other council members to design development rules based on the parish's flood plains. He suggested the developer may have better luck in six months once those rules are in place.

Earlier this year, the council changed the appeal process for commission decisions when it abolished a controversial appeals board. That three-person body had overturned earlier commission denials of other residential communities proposed in the parish.

Follow David J. Mitchell on Twitter, @NewsieDave.

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Ascension Council upholds denial of Hudson Cove subdivision over drainage worries - The Advocate

Will we be wiped out by machine overlords? Maybe we need a … – PBS NewsHour

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JUDY WOODRUFF: Now: the fears around the development of artificial intelligence.

Computer superintelligence is a long, long way from the stuff of sci-fi movies, but several high-profile leaders and thinkers have been worrying quite publicly about what they see as the risks to come.

Our economics correspondent, Paul Solman, explores that. Its part of his weekly series, Making Sense.

ACTOR: I want to talk to you about the greatest scientific event in the history of man.

ACTOR: Are you building an A.I.?

PAUL SOLMAN: A.I., artificial intelligence.

ACTRESS: Do you think I might be switched off?

ACTOR: Its not up to me.

ACTRESS: Why is it up to anyone?

PAUL SOLMAN: Some version of this scenario has had prominent tech luminaries and scientists worried for years.

In 2014, cosmologist Stephen Hawking told the BBC:

STEPHEN HAWKING, Scientist (through computer voice): I think the development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race.

PAUL SOLMAN: And just this week, Tesla and SpaceX entrepreneur Elon Musk told the MDNMNational Governors Association:

ELON MUSK, CEO, Tesla Motors: A.I. is a fundamental existential risk for human civilization. And I dont think people fully appreciate that.

PAUL SOLMAN: OK, but whats the economics angle? Well, at Oxford Universitys Future of Humanity Institute, founding director Nick Bostrom leads a team trying to figure out how best to invest in, well, the future of humanity.

NICK BOSTROM, Director, Future of Humanity Institute: We are in this very peculiar situation of looking back at the history of our species, 100,000 years old, and now finding ourselves just before the threshold to what looks like it will be this transition to some post-human era of superintelligence that can colonize the universe, and then maybe last for billions of years.

PAUL SOLMAN: Philosopher Bostrom has been perhaps the most prominent thinker about the benefits and dangers to humanity of what he calls superintelligence for many years.

NICK BOSTROM: Once there is superintelligence, the fate of humanity may depend on what that superintelligence does.

PAUL SOLMAN: There are plenty of ways to invest in humanity, he says, giving money to anti-disease charities, for example.

But Bostrom thinks longer-term, about investing to lessen existential risks, those that threaten to wipe out the human species entirely. Global warming might be one. But plenty of other people are worrying about that, he says. So, he thinks about other risks.

What are the greatest of those risks?

NICK BOSTROM: The greatest existential risks arise from certain anticipated technological breakthroughs that we might make, in particular, machine superintelligence, nanotechnology, and synthetic biology, fundamentally because we dont have the ability to uninvent anything that we invent.

We dont, as a human civilization, have the ability to put the genie back into the bottle. Once something has been published, then we are stuck with that knowledge.

PAUL SOLMAN: So Bostrom wants money invested in how to manage A.I.

NICK BOSTROM: Specifically on the question, if and when in the future you could build machines that were really smart, maybe superintelligent, smarter than humans, how could you then ensure that you could control what those machines do, that they were beneficial, that they were aligned with human intentions?

PAUL SOLMAN: How likely is it that machines would develop basically a mind of their own, which is what youre saying, right?

NICK BOSTROM: I do think that advanced A.I., including superintelligence, is a sort of portal through which humanity will have passage, assuming we dont destroy ourselves prematurely in some other way.

Right now, the human brain is where its at. Its the source of almost all of the technologies we have.

PAUL SOLMAN: Im relieved to hear that.

(LAUGHTER)

NICK BOSTROM: And the complex social organization we have.

PAUL SOLMAN: Right.

NICK BOSTROM: Its why the modern condition is so different from the way that the chimpanzees live.

Its all through the human brains ability to discover and communicate. But there is no reason to think that human intelligence is anywhere near the greatest possible level of intelligence that could exist, that we are sort of the smartest possible species.

I think, rather, that we are the stupidest possible species that is capable of creating technological civilization.

PAUL SOLMAN: And capable of creating technology that has begun to surpass us, first in chess, then in Jeopardy, now in the supposedly impossible game for a machine to win, Go.

This is just task-oriented software, some have argued, and not really intelligence at all. Moreover, whatever you call it, there will be enormous benefits, says Bostrom.

On the other hand, if we approach real intelligence, it could also become a threat. Think of Ex Machina or The Matrix or Elon Musks fantasy fear this week about advanced A.I.

ELON MUSK: Well, it could start a war by create by doing fake news and spoofing e-mail accounts and fake press releases, and just by, you know, manipulating information. The pen is mightier than the sword.

PAUL SOLMAN: So, this is going to be a cat-and-mouse game between us and the intelligence?

NICK BOSTROM: That would be one model. One line of attack is to try to leverage the A.I.s intelligence to learn what it is that we value and what we want it to do.

PAUL SOLMAN: In order to protect ourselves from what could be a truly existential risk.

So, how do you get the greatest good for the greatest number of present and future humans beings? It might be to invest now in controlling the evolution of artificial intelligence.

For the PBS NewsHour, this is economics correspondent Paul Solman, reporting from Oxford, England.

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Will we be wiped out by machine overlords? Maybe we need a ... - PBS NewsHour

Giving Up the Fags: A Self-Reflexive Speech on Critical Auto-ethnography About the Shame of Growing up Gay/Sexual … – The Good Men Project (blog)

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Editors note: In British English, the word fag means cigarette.

I am studying my Ph.D. in the College of Education at Victoria University Melbourne. Ill introduce from a quote from Springaay, from the handbook, Being with A/r/tography, (my methodology), where she writes there is no need to separate the personal from the professional any more than we can separate the dancer from the dance (Springgay, pp5).

Hopefully, by the end of this essay, you will see why that is important to me in terms of critical auto-ethnographical and autobiographical, practice-led writing and research.

I am working with young people for my Ph.D. Specifically, year eleven students. What will it mean to be human through the lens of technology in the near future? is the broad central theme. I am writing a six-week curriculum exploring artificial intelligence, and the anticipated superintelligence that will further enable transhumanism. What do young people ethically think of living in a post-human world?

But that is not what this essay is about.

In my youth and adolescence, I felt I had no non-prejudiced person to validate my emotional or ethical life. As a now forty-four-year-old adult, I want to be that person for these kids, allowing them to voice their concerns and for them to be heard.

My intuition that led me to want to work with young people is multifaceted and, as it turns out, complex. In the first instance, I have worked with young people before discussing mental health issues (as per my lived experience of schizophrenia), and drug use and abuse in many pedagogical settings in the past. I have valued and enjoyed hearing young peoples candidness. I have no children of my own.

I was exposed to things of a sexual nature from two abusive peers that I need not have seen.

For my presentation, I would like to read an abridged and sometimes for me emotional introduction to my exegesis. Through auto-ethnographical and autobiographical, practice-led writing, it has led to some intensely personal and stunning revelations. I feel this adds to my justifications of working with young people and needed to be addressed before my research commenced.

Just before I start this narrative piece I would like to quote Jones, Autoethnography uses the researchers personal experiences as primary data.

Just before Christmas in 2016, I gave up smoking. This was for health reasons, as I was getting unfit and short of breath. Another reason was to avoid feeling ostracized with the proliferation of non-smoking zones. Being ostracized is also a feeling I have felt throughout my life.It was also to save money and have literally have enough prosperity so that I could put a roof over my head to finish this Ph.D.

I only expected to give up smoking. What happened next was totally unexpected. It is a bit like the outcome of this novella I am writing for my Ph.D., for the result is beyond an event horizon in which no one knows the outcome.

The occurrence of giving up smoking, however, wove itself into this Ph.D. narrative and is a vehicle by which I can place my more self-actualised identity within the framework of my study.

It also goes part way to justify why it is that I want to work with young people, apart from the fact they are familiar with technology and will inherit this fast changing technological world.

As a young queer person with a mental illness, I did not think I ever received much validation. I did not have the capacity nor the opportunity to express myself in many ways, and with the onset of depression, addiction and psychosis, that coupled itself with isolation and ostracisation, I did not ever have the opportunity to.

This being said I had wonderful parents in many ways growing up and other well-meaning relatives around. However, growing up in the eighties AIDS crisis, to feel like anything other than heteronormative was difficult.The television broadcast the shock tactics of the Grim Reaper killing people with AIDS.Adults and children alike, had eyes and ears during my formative years. We had a close family, they were all wonderful but to be gay that was bad.

I recall Mum at the park when I was young, Dont go near those toilets without me, bad men go there. Mum was caring and expressing herself from a well of love and protectiveness. She was a great Mum.

With my developing self-awareness, I further want to be a non-prejudiced and open person for young people to relate to with candidness and openness.

When I gave up smoking, unconsciously I went into self-destruct mode for a while, a sort of self-medicating and hedonistic coping mechanism. After some months, it suddenly dawned on me that I had undergone inappropriate sexual abuse and sexual exposure when I was a child.

Two abusive peers exposed me to things of a sexual nature that I need not have seen. I had also been flashed and was shown an adults genitals by someone very close to my home whom I and the family trusted.

The memories started to rush in at another separate event, I cant quite remember and dont want to, an incident occurred at the toilets at little athletics when I was about eight years old. I only put weight to this sketchy memory, because even though I loved little aths and was good at it-I never went back after the incident despite my fathers pleas.

After that incident at little aths, I remember being so scared of, and avoiding the toilet so much, that I recall going home one afternoon from little aths having not urinated all day and Dad popping into the milk bar to buy the paper as he used to.

Having avoided the scene of the indecency, I could not hold on anymore, so I pissed in a McDonalds cup in the front seat of our family Volkswagon, snuck out of the car and put it in the bin before Dad came back, such was my shame.

Bad people go there. To be gay was bad. This meant that I was bad. This was ingrained from a young age.

I carried that guilt and shame for most of my childhood, all my adolescence and adult life.

I had always remembered the abuse, yet I did not ever consciously give it voice or gave it any weight. However, as I wrote more, I received counsel from my psychologist for the additional memories. For the longest timemy whole life, in factI had made decisions as an adolescent and an adult that had their genesis in the non-validation of the abuse.

As I wrote more, I received counsel from my psychologist for the additional memories. For the longest timemy whole life, in factI had made decisions as an adolescent and an adult that had their genesis in the non-validation of the abuse.

This included drug-taking and other risky behavior, constantly changing the location of where I lived, running away, squatting in disheveled housing at times, being jobless, not confident and not knowing why, financially bereft, emotionally traumatized, and overactive sexual misadventures.

It also manifested in choosing life partners and company in which I settled for, yet deserved much more. I have no doubt that my self-denial of what had happened to me added to and exacerbated my diagnosis of schizophrenia from age twenty over my lifetime.

Smoking for me was literally a smokescreen for nearly 23 years.

It was the reason not to remember, the affirmation that I as a person was not worthy. I did not care for myself. At the start, it was rebellious; it was also something I started to do when I was young that I knew I was not allowed to: that was taboo. I as a young person, had known taboo with abuse and prejudice-but the taboo of smoking was something that I myself was in control of.

This was in antithesis, of the abusive and inappropriate events that happened to me growing up; of the face of being vulnerable and exposed, and then not having the opportunity to express or validated what had happened.

Such was my lack of self-esteem, I knew it would kill me it said so on the pack! This self-depreciative beast took over my life from age thirteen.

It had become my addiction and best friend. It was a smokescreen for the memories that I had pushed deep into the wells of my sub consciousness. I remember throughout many psychoses and depressive episodes in my adolescence and adulthood, wanting and wishing I could die.

There was also a couple of brazen attempts, which thankfully did not work.

Ethnographically, on our televisions and on the news, gay people died of AIDS. Even in primary school, I had crushes on the boys and crushes on the girls. What if I was gay? Maybe I deserved to die? have another smoke!

I did not really answer that question of Was I gay? with certainty and confidence until I was twenty-five, had moved out of home, and got myself a job as an artist and illustrator for a major Melbourne newspaper. I needed a place to be safe when I finally did come out.

Smoking the fags meant:

I did not deserve to live (because it would kill me),

or be prosperous, (because it cost so much).

Then, I gave them up.

A change occurred that made me feel like I was a worthy person. I uncovered all the memories of the sexual abuse, of the complex family relationships within a complex time and how this had manifested into my adult life.

This surprising re-birth happened fast.

Giving up the fags was a journey of healing, and this short speech is a testament to that. It is the process of owning your experiences (both conscious and sub conscious) and being responsible, for your greatest happiness, and highest good.

To be a self-actualized adult you must be aware of your history, your make-up and your relationships and your memories, and be fully conscious of it yet for me, the illusion of the smoke screen of smoking kept me from this.

In essence-to validate and be reborn from a troubling past I had to confront the self within an autobiographical and autoethnographic narrative. This is the essential practice led writing that has un-blocked me from moving forward within my Ph.D. and within my personal life.

This public statement, writing and talking both frees me and also encourages my future happiness, and dare I say prosperity and security in a multitude of ways. This is the piece of writing, and the public testimony, that exalts me and sets me free. It will also make me a better teacher and more self-actualized researcher.

My psychologist wrote something down for me a couple of months which I said which he skillfully reminded me of:

31/01/2017

I deserve a future,

I deserve a life,

I am worthy.

I deserved, to be heard, and to live with wealth happiness and prosperity.

Giving up the fags was a revelation, yet late at age forty-four. However, I am sure we all know some people dont make it. But to feel self-worth and be listened to??

This is what the young people in my Ph.D. study, and young people everywhere, deserve to feel. We owe it to them as mentors, parents, and teachers.

So, I am no longer a smoker. I do still vape, though. This essay has been important to me as a public statement because I rightly and justly reclaimed my worth.

These were the words I needed to say which came from me and no one else, in order to move forward with my autobiographic writing of reflecting on being a young person, so I can be of service to my students and go on to co-contribute to produce global knowledge from local settings.

To be a self-actualized adult you must be aware of your history, your make-up and your relationships and your memories, and be fully conscious of it yet for me, the illusion of the smoke screen of smoking kept me from this.

These challengingly spoken words of intimacy and trauma had existed kicking and screaming in sub liminality right up into and strongly influencing my adult life.

This writing, my decisions, and this speech is a release, a healing, a process, a validation. Also, a manifesto of sorts for the role I will play in listening and validating young peoples concerns in terms of my Ph.D. topic.

If I could right now, Id take a drag on my vape, and Im on my way.

Thank you for reading.

ON CRITICAL AUTOETHNOGRAPHY:

To quote an early text from C. Wright Mills (1959) from Joneses Handbook of autoethnography, before the term autoethnography existed:

The sociological imagination enables us to grasp history and biography and the relations between the two in society. The challenge is to develop a methodology that allows us to examine how the private troubles of individuals are connected to public issues and to public responses to these troubles. That is its task and its promise. Individuals can understand their own experience and gauge their own fate only by locating themselves within their historical moment period, (pp. 56, slight paraphrase)1.

(Jones 1,2,3)

Jones, Stacy H.Handbook of Autoethnography. Routledge, 20160523. VitalBook file.

Furthermore,Carolyn Ellis(2004) defines autoethnography as research, writing, story, and method that connect the autobiographical and personal to the cultural, social, and political (p. xix).

Please share this article if it resonated with you. Thank you.

See more about Rich McLean at his websitewww.richmclean.com.au

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This article originally appeared on LinkedIn

Photo credit: Getty Images

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Giving Up the Fags: A Self-Reflexive Speech on Critical Auto-ethnography About the Shame of Growing up Gay/Sexual ... - The Good Men Project (blog)

July 20 in Sci-Fi History: Space Exploration & Bruce Lee – SYFY WIRE (blog)

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Today is Space Exploration Day, commemorating the first steps by a human on the moon during the Apollo 11 mission. There are people who want this observed as a national holiday, so check out the petition if that interests you. Also, we thought this was interesting:

Also. We're SYFY, so we have a pretty serious interest in this. In fact, we spend a lot of time geeking out over stuff just like this.

May we suggest you bookmark the articles under Bad Astronomy here.

July 20th also happens to be, sadly, the day that Bruce Lee died in 1973. Born in San Francisco, raised in Hong Kong, educated in Seattle, Lee started his career as a child actor. After college, he landed a role as as Kato on TV'sThe Green Hornet. After that,Lee went back to Hong Kong and found success making several films, including:

Fist of Fury

Way of the Dragon (which Lee wrote, directed, starred in, choreographed and also got Chuck Norris to be in):

Ultimately, he came back to the United States to make Enter the Dragon:

And yet, before the movie was released, Lee died of an allergic reaction to a medication found in a common drug called Equagesic. He was 32 years old. Requiescat in pace.

Tomorrow: Mrs. Doubtfire on The Trans-Siberian Railroad.

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July 20 in Sci-Fi History: Space Exploration & Bruce Lee - SYFY WIRE (blog)

Elon Musk Thinks A Permanent Moon Base Would Make Space Exploration Easier In The Future – Indiatimes.com

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Its a well known fact that Elon Musk is infatuated with Mars, and has a crazy plan to colonize the red planet.

However, he's setting his eyes on something much closer to home first.

During an interview at the International Space Station Research and Development conference on Wednesday, SpaceX founder revealed that he believes having a permanent facility on the Moon would help space agencies unlock their true potential for space exploration.

Getting people to Mars and beyond, that's the continuance of the dream of Apollo that I think people are really looking for.

However, despite his excitement for the idea, Musk has no intentions of building a lunar base himself. Hes previously indicated that Earths little satellite isnt a priority for SpaceX, especially since their focus is on settling Mars. And though the company plans to have a spaceship fly around the Moon sometime in 2018, the passengers will not be making a stop off.

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Elon Musk Thinks A Permanent Moon Base Would Make Space Exploration Easier In The Future - Indiatimes.com

NASA’s space exploration tech to help self-driving cars at new test track – Orlando Business Journal

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NASA's space exploration tech to help self-driving cars at new test track
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Clothes intertwined with nanotech will treat eczema | Horizon: the … – Horizon magazine

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As people are getting older, they have more sensitive skin, so there is a need to develop new products for skin treatment, said Dr Carla Silva, chief technology officer at the Centre for Nanotechnology and Smart Materials (CENTI) in Portugal.

This increased sensitivity can lead to painful bacterial infections such as dermatitis, otherwise known as eczema. Current treatments use silver-based or synthetic antibacterial elements, but these can create environmentally harmful waste and may have negative side effects.

To combat these bacterial infections in an eco-friendly way the EU-funded SKHINCAPS project is combining concentrated plant oil with nanotechnology.

Their solution puts these so-called essential oils into tiny capsules that are hundreds of times smaller than the width of a human hair. Each one is programmed to release its payload only in the presence of the bacteria that cause the skin infections.

As people are getting older, they have more sensitive skin, so there is a need to develop new products for skin treatment.

Dr Carla Silva, Centre for Nanotechnology and Smart Materials (CENTI), Portugal

This means that each capsule is in direct contact with the affected skin as soon as an infection occurs, increasing the effectiveness of the treatment.

According to Dr Silva, who is also project coordinator of SKHINCAPS, the nano-capsules are attached to the clothing material using covalent bonding, the strongest chemical bond found in nature. This ensures the capsules survive the washing machine and that they are invisible to whoever is wearing them.

This nanotechnology has a lifespan equal to that of the garment, though the active ingredients contained in the nano-capsules will run out earlier depending on the extent of the skin infection, and thereby on how much of the treatment is released when the clothing is worn.

The nano-capsules will prove invaluable for chronic eczema sufferers and those with high levels of stress, as well as the elderly and diabetics, who are particularly vulnerable to developing such infections.

And its not just essential oils that could be held in the capsules.

The project is also demonstrating the use of nano-capsules loaded with paraffin, a waxy solid with the ability to absorb and release energy, in thermal clothing. The melting or crystallisation point of paraffin is around the temperature of human skin, meaning that the capsules can keep users cool by absorbing energy as the paraffin melts, or warm them up by releasing energy when it crystallises again.

This could not only improve the day-to-day comfort of those less able to control their body temperatures, such as young children, but also help sportspeople to control their temperature better while exercising.

SKHINCAPS is also adding nano-capsules loaded with vitamins and antioxidants to create anti-ageing cosmetics. The shell of this type of nano-capsule will protect their contents from decay due to sunlight exposure or change in temperature, releasing the anti-ageing ingredients only when they come into contact with skin at the right temperature and pH, maximising their effectiveness.

Cosmetics

Another EU-funded project developing nano-cosmetics is PEPTICAPS. They are putting vitamins, such as A, B, C and D, as well as antioxidants, inside nano-capsules to repair skin damage caused by chemical or sun exposure.

Dr Damien Dupin, the head of the biomaterials unit at IK4-CIDETEC, a research centre in Spain, is the project coordinator of PEPTICAPS, and highlights the importance of protecting ourselves in the chemical-rich world we live in.

In everything we are touching now there are chemical products, he said. For example, latex gloves fifty years ago no one used them, now everyone does and some people get redness and itching.

PEPTICAPS nano-capsules are filled with a special cocktail of vitamins that can protect or repair skin when exposed to harmful chemicals, but they dont release them until the conditions outside the capsule require them to do so.

This occurs when there is a change in pH and/or the release of an enzyme when skin irritation occurs. They could be used in creams, lotions and facial masks to help healthy skin recover after chemical or sunlight damage.

The project has been testing the nano-capsules on a laboratory-grown epidermis, an important layer of the skin, made from human skin cells donated by patients after cosmetic surgery. One advantage of this approach is that the skin layer can be irritated in the same way as real skin, providing realistic and validated results, without using animal testing.

The team have been able to show that their treatment is more efficient and penetrates deeper into the epidermis than products currently available in shops. The PEPTICAPSproject expects the first cosmetic products to contain the nano-capsules to be available by 2019, in time to make SKHINCAPS a possible competitor.

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Nano-capsules in cosmetics can help prevent long-term bacterial infection and help us look younger for longer, but something called nano-matrices may even help heal skin.

The EU-funded MOZART project aims to use a gel containing nano-matrices to deliver and release treatments only to an affected area. They will be laced with wound-healing drugs andspecial types ofcharged atoms called therapeutic ions that work together in a similar way to antibiotics to reduce the chances of developing antibiotic-resistant infections.

Its project coordinator, Professor Chiara Vitale Brovarone at the Politecnico di Torino, Italy, said: We hope that MOZART nano-matrices will offer a significant reduction in the number of non-healing patients.

Much of the work carried out by the project so far has focussed on the development of a wide platform of nano-matrices and on fine-tuning how and when they dissolve to provide the best possible targeted treatment. The MOZART consortium is aiming for a commercially viable product by 2023.

Nanotechnology is increasingly being used in products all around us, from cosmetics and building materials to electronics and toothpaste.

Across Europe, hundreds of institutions are working together to look at how to monitor exposure, manage the risks and advise on what regulations may be needed under the EUs NanoSafety Cluster.

EU funding aims to further the development of safe nanotechnologieswithin aEUR 1.8 billionfund for 2018-2020, which will also support next-generation materials as well as biotechnology and newmanufacturing processes.

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Clothes intertwined with nanotech will treat eczema | Horizon: the ... - Horizon magazine

International Project Aims to Bring Nanotech Potential Closer – Labmate Online

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The European Commission has approved an international collaborative grant, expected to be in excess of 12million, to Scientists at Swansea University Medical School who will lead the development of tests to prevent the use of animals when assessing safety concerns surrounding nanotechnology a field with potential to enhance crucial aspects of our lives pending proper investigation into associated risks.

Awarded as part of the Horizon2020 scheme, the project, Physiologically Anchored Tools for Realistic nanOmateriaL hazard aSsessment (PATROLS), involves a total of 26 partners spread across 14 countries through Europe and across the globe including Canada, Japan, Korea and the US.

Project lead Shareen Doak, Professor of Genotoxicology & Cancer at the Swansea University Medical School explained: Nanotechnology promises significant scientific, economic and societal benefits, but commercialisation and growth are threatened by safety uncertainties. Several problems currently exist in the field of nanosafety testing: standard non-animal tests are unreliable for nanomaterials, so there is a greater emphasis on evaluating their safety in animals. However animal tests are also unsuitable as they are expensive, time-consuming, and are associated with substantial moral concerns. Additionally, these tests do not predict the consequences of long term exposure on both human health and the environment.

PATROLS will address these limitations by providing state-of-the-art 3D culture models of the human lung, gastrointestinal tract and liver. The project will also deliver advanced testing methods for environmental safety testing and robust computational models that will allow us to more accurately predict human health and environmental safety based on data generated in cell culture, removing the need to test on animals. Exposure under realistic conditions (low concentrations over extended periods of time) will be applied to human cell culture to understand the true risk associated with nanomaterials in consumer products.

The PATROLS project is scheduled to commence in autumn 2017 and will run for 3.5 years.

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International Project Aims to Bring Nanotech Potential Closer - Labmate Online